Revelation Space
by Alastair Reynolds, John Lee · first published 2000
63% recommend33% neutral4% critical
Why HN recommends it
Hard space opera with no faster-than-light travel, a vast universe, a gothic darkness and a xenoarchaeology angle; suits Culture and Hyperion fans who want physics-minded sci-fi that drops you into its world.
Common criticism: Some find the prose dry and the series fades in later books
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Nine hundred thousand years ago, something annihilated the Amarantin civilization just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight. Now one scientist, Dan Sylveste, will stop at nothing to solve the Amarantin riddle before ancient history repeats itself. With no other resources at his disposal, Sylveste forges a dangerous alliance with the cyborg crew of the starship Nostalgia for Infinity. But as he closes in on the secret, a killer closes in on him. Because the Amarantin were destroyed for a reason — and if that reason is uncovered, the universe—and reality itself — could be irrecover
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…the greater conversation, my relationship with sci-fi is on-and-off but I really enjoyed A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge. This one got me back into it. I recently finished the Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space trilogy which was amazing except for the third novel which was a little tiresome and ultimately unsatisfying.
on “The Culture War: Iain M. Banks’s Billionaire Fans” ↗Revelation Space - by Alastair Reynolds – 2000 An epic volume 1 Volume 2 - Chasm City - brilliant with a dark and heart stopping culmination Reynolds is a British astro-physicists I dont know if he is popular in the…
on “Science Fiction by Scientists” ↗…Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky. I do wish that he had written more about Pham Numen and the Qeng Ho, back in their Slow Zone heyday. Alastair Reynolds also does a great job with this in his Revelation Space trilogy, with his lighthuggers.
on “Ways to travel at nearly the speed of light” ↗…towards hard space opera) and have accumulated a "best of the best" list of my own: Leviathan Wakes - James S. A. Corey (TV show The Expanse is loosely based on this, but IMO doesn't even come close) Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds Three Body Problem (all 3 books) - Liu Cixin Consider Phlebas - Iain M. Banks (your gateway drug into the Culture universe) Genuinely wish I could experience all the above for the…
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗…hard Sci-fi) 6. Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (enjoyed the audio production from BBC radio) 7. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories - Ken Liu (enjoyed several of the short stories very much) 8. Revelation Space/Chasm City/Redemption Ark/Absolution Gap - Alastair Reynolds (love the series but it is long!) 9. Executive Orders - Tom Clancy (not my favorite Clancy book but still fun) 10. Rainbow Six - Tom Clancy…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗I did not expect to see sci-fi here but I'd like to add anything in the Revelation Space universe by Alastair Reynolds. I just got done reading it for a 2nd time, and Elysium Fire for the 1st time and I'm in love with his style of writing and the universe he's created. I just want more information…
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗To me it's Alastair Reynolds, and then everybody else. When I read "Revelation Space" it was, er, a Revelation. In addition to the many books R.S. universe (spanning across great swaths of time) there is also the fun Revenger series, and several non-canonical short stores, etc. Of course,…
on “Science Fiction Books I’ve Read (2018)” ↗Revelation Space, Redemption Ark, Absolution Gap, and Inhibitor Phase by Alastair Reynolds for the main arc.
on “A Danish political party led by an AI” ↗I recently really enjoyed the Revelation Space series by Alistair Reynolds. Also, Greg Bear's books about The Way (Legacy, Eon, etc) make a great series.
on “Has sci-fi run out of steam?” ↗Revelation Space, by Alastair Reynolds - Quirky sci-fi novel with a xenoarchaeology angle Hunters of Dune, by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson - I'm not recommending this one on the basis of the writing. I'd recommend…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗Alastair Reynolds "Revelation Space" series is fantastic. He also writes some great stand alone pieces (House of Suns for example). He is also quite strict about being hard sci-fi (no faster than light travel for example). Also The Culture…
on “Ask HN: Do you know any amazing space epics?” ↗Hi, this is my first contribution to HN. I'm currently reading Revelation Space. It's a science fiction space opera novel by Alastair Reynolds. Pretty immersive. A good read!
on “Ask HN: What are you reading right now?” ↗If you're interested in "realistic" (meaning: no FTL) space battles read Alastair Reynolds' Redemption Ark (and read Revelation Space and Chasm City before that). It includes a chase between star systems that goes on for years and "close" (ie within a few light-seconds) combat that involves a lot of interpolation of enemy position,…
on “What future space combat would really look like” ↗…boson is real and we can come up with a way of manipulating it at relatively low power levels. Not much good in the short term if it takes the power output of a star to achieve :) Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space series of hard sci-fi has quite a bit about ships called Lighthuggers that basically travel at about 0.95c and exploit relativity to achieve short journeys for crew members when hundreds of years pass…
on “Sending a spacecraft to Alpha Centauri” ↗Have you read Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds? If you haven't, you really need to.
on “When Are the Intelligent Aliens?” ↗